Browsing by Author "Etienne, Leslie K."

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    Bought But Not Sold Out: A Critical Autoethnography of a Public School Board Member in the Neoliberal Turn
    (2022-05) Cosby, Gayle S.; Scheurich, Jim; Medina, Monica; Rogan, Patricia; Etienne, Leslie K.
    Neoliberalism is a pro-capitalist ideology that cycles money and power to the elite class by deregulating or privatizing the public sphere and is fueled by economic exploitation and oppression. This dissertation examines the neoliberal construct at work in the privatization of Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) from an ethnographic lens using the vantage point of an elected IPS board member. The literature surrounding the privatization of public schools offers stories from all over the U.S., however the conditions surrounding the privatization of public education systems are similar irrespective of geographical location. Common themes across the country include the de-professionalization of teachers, the circulation of the narrative myth of failing public schools and charter schools as a positive alternative, and overarching patterns of continued school segregation, gentrification of inner cities, and racial migratory patterns of residents affecting school enrollment. Theoretical framing employed in this study includes Punctuated Equilibrium at the macro level; sociopolitics and logics of action at the meso level, and critical theory and politics of resistance at the micro level of analysis. The analysis of data was conducted thematically and data sources encompass a self-authored blog as well as personal communications and reflections, news articles, and board documents. Results of this study illustrate that IPS as an organization underwent a fulcrum point of change, or ‘Punctuated Equilibrium’ in which it ceased to be an exclusively public institution and began to establish partnerships with private charter school companies with inherent profit motives, via the ‘Innovation School Network’. There were many political players involved in orchestrating this change, and those interest groups and their logics of action are detailed. Implications of this study include identifying the future spread of school privatization and possibilities for disrupting the furthering of this neoliberal agenda.
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    Tweet or Fired: An Analysis on the Practice of Managing Public Sector Employees that Engage on Social Media
    (2022-05) Kemp, Desmond L.; Etienne, Leslie K.; Eckerd, Adam; Walker, Marquita; Merritt, Breanca
    This study explored the perspectives of six public sector human resource professionals on social media policies and how it maintains the behavior of employees that engage on social media. The expansion of technology in the public sector allows personnel to build relationships with the people they serve and participate in public forums. As more legislators and professionals use social media for work and personal matters, they are more likely to face public humiliation and disciplinary punishment over uncivil behavior. This research shows the public sector institutions in the Indianapolis area have lenient social media policies. In addition, this research argues that work policies, i.e., social media, should be modernized and relevant for all cultures. This dissertation analyzes how social media policies are established and executed within local government organizations using a multi-method approach. The first phase of this study surveyed and interviewed human resources professionals. While social media issues are still relatively new, progressive disciplinary procedures are most likely to be implemented when an employee engages in uncivil behavior on social media. The Logic of Appropriateness as the framework for the content analysis of social media policies from eight local agencies explores how the organizations direct employee behavior. The analysis findings determine certain public sector institutions in the Indianapolis area have social media policies for legal protection but place ethical value on respect as an expectation for employee conduct. This study backs the development of transparent social media policies in public sector agencies, especially since there is a recurring shift in the generational and cultural background of public representatives.